Research

Universal broadband access is crucial for Wisconsin. Over the past two decades, the growing importance of broadband for business, farming, school, and governments has been obvious. The COVID-19 pandemic has re-emphasized its critical nature. While broadband access is nearly universal in Wisconsin cities and villages, there are major gaps in rural Wisconsin. According to the most recent data from the Federal Communications Commission, 25% of rural residents lack access to 25 Mbps broadband, the speed which is now considered the standard.

The Federal Communications Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology released a report on measuring fixed broadband, finding, among other things: the weighted average advertised speed of the participating broadband providers was 146.1 Mbps, representing an 8% increase from the previous year and over a 100% increase from two years prior; and for most of the major broadband providers tested, measured download speeds were 100% or better than advertised speeds during the peak hours.

This study examines how far is California from the goal of making 100 Mbps broadband available to all as laid out by Governor Gavin Newsom in August 2020. The study also discusses the broadband proposals (AB-14 and SB-4) currently before the California legislature. Among the key study findings are:

Digital gaps have the potential to exacerbate the inequalities that exist in society. The main objective of this paper is to study the gaps that occur in the use of internet services by households in Spain during the period 2007–2019 and to become useful in the design of policies addressed to narrow specific digital divides. The data is a panel obtained from the ICT-H Survey on Households of the National Statistics Institute. This paper defines the gaps as the differences in the use of internet services across individual consumers.

With this second 2020 Communications Marketplace Report, the Federal Communications Commission fulfills the requirement set forth in RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018 to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the state of competition in the communications marketplace in the US. As required, this Report assesses the state of all forms of competition in the communications marketplace; the state of deployment of communications capabilities; barriers to competitive entry, including market entry barriers for entrepreneurs and other small businesses.

This paper explores two research questions. First, is there a digital divide in how certain groups access mobile broadband as measured by the mobile connection technology? Second, is there a digital divide in the quality of their mobile broadband as measured by download and upload speeds? Overall, we conclude that the mobile digital divide does exist across certain dimensions. Rural areas are somewhat more dependent on non-Wi-Fi mobile technology and experience slower speeds on their mobile connections.

Over the course of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, Pew Research Center has studied Americans’ attitudes about the role and effectiveness of various technologies and their views about digital privacy and data collection as it relates to the pandemic. Here is what we found:

Using data from Mexico's 2016 National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH), we estimate the impact of Internet access on the multidimensional and income poverty of rural and urban Mexico. Based on a Propensity Score Matching approach, our results show that Internet access helps reduce poverty levels in Mexico. Findings also reveal differentiated effects in the two indicators accounting for greater deprivation. The impacts on reducing extreme income poverty and extreme multidimensional poverty are more significant for the rural sector than for the urban sector.

Known for its deep roots in music and unforgettable food, Memphis is also known for its long-standing digital divide. Broadband connectivity has always been elusive to segments of Memphis’ population, a reality that has crippled their ability to adapt when COVID-19 encroached into their neighborhoods. Remote learning and work from home mandates have, since, forced connectivity challenges onto the priority lists of local government leaders. Meanwhile, community leaders and private sector partners have acquired critical support to expand broadband access and boost adoption.

This case study analyzes the housing-related financial strain felt by Long Beach residents and explores the intersection of housing and internet access in Long Beach. The qualitative data for this case study was gathered through one-onone interviews with public officials, local social service professionals, a review of city budgets from 2014-2020, and a review of press coverage and studies that focus on housing and internet adoption in Long Beach. Based on this research, the following recommendations could improve connectivity for residents.